TheAdult Swim cartoon series is the internets favorite show, but not just because its good.

By Christian Zeitler, Carnegie Mellon University

Rick and Morty is Adult Swims most successful series since South Park, and has become especially pandemic among college kids.

Even when the show has been on extended hiatuses, the hype refuses to die down. Why has a show like Rick and Morty (which is, among other things, very strange) been able to grab ahold of our attention so powerfully?

Rick and Morty (image via inverse)

It is more than just the fact that the showsgood; beyond the interesting plots, well-developed characters and cleverly convoluted sci-fi concepts, the series seems to have struck a more profound chord with the younger generation, and fans are able to engage with the Rick and Morty universe(s) in unique ways. Basically, the shows success can be attributed to these two factors: the crazy marketing strategies employed by the Rick and Morty staff, and the shows nihilistic philosophy.

It is clear that the Rick and Morty staff have a firm grasp on social media and general internet culture. For one, most of their marketing efforts are creative and interactive in some form or another. For instance, the Rick and Morty Instagram account is actually an elaborate game called the Rickstaverse. It follows a point-and-click style system where fans can use tags within pictures as a method of exploration. One picture could help transport you to another planet where you could find collectibles or easter eggs. This stands in stark contrast to most other marketing on social media, especially other television shows, who use sites like Instagram as glorified posters for upcoming episodes or events.

Another example is the fundraiser for HIV prevention that co-creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland hosted. The winner of the fundraiser would get to voice a new alien overlord appearing in Season 3. These kinds of strategies that actively engage and encourage participation from the audience keep buzz for the show alive, even when it is not airing new episodes for a long time. They have also created two video games under the Rick and Morty brand. The first is a mobile game emulating Pokmon called Pocket Mortys, and the second is a VR game called Virtual Rickality, the release of which was advertised by an extremely self-deprecating commercial mocking the gimmicky nature of the games own existence.

Virtual Rickality (image via owlchemy labs)

The need to keep buzz alive in the space between seasons has been particularly critical in between Seasons 2and 3due to the ambiguous nature of Season 3srelease date. The ending of Season 2was an almost obnoxiously gut-wrenching cliffhanger, which was made even more painful by the announcement from a character in the after-credits scene that the show wouldnt return for at least another year and a half.

Unsure whether to take this time frame seriously (after all, the name of the character who announced it was Mr. Poopybutthole), the fans of the show have been emotionally battered in the space between. It was announced that the show was actually returning in the winter of 2016, significantly earlier than the year-and-a-half mark, but it turned out that they had not finished animating the episodes, so the return was pushed back to another ambiguous time.

In the dead space, the internet became a breeding ground for false release dates and rants cursing the names of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland for putting fans through this roller coaster of anticipation and disappointment. Then, with no advertisement other than a tweet, the opening episode to Season 3 was aired on April 1, exactly a year and a half after Mr. Poopybuttholes announcement. Those who found the episode shouted its existence from the rooftops and were met with the overwhelming voices of the already-jaded fanbase: We know its April Fools Day. Nice try, but I wont be disappointed again.

It was the ultimate April Fools prank, because it wasnt one.

All of these choices combine to create a unique persona for the Rick and Morty team. In one sense, it looks like they dont care that they dragged the fans through the mud and then aired an episode on April Fools as a middle finger to the world. But when considering the complexity and creative effort put into all of their other choices, from video games to trailers for The Simpsons in which Rick and Morty accidentally murder the entire Simpson family, it becomes clear that they do care. They care a lot.

They also know that the internet loves to be toyed with, and so the seemingly nonchalant approach to release dates has actually proved to be an important cog in a machine that builds hype. The show only has twenty-two episodes aired so far and yet, it is in the upper echelon of the most talked-about programs Adult Swim has had in the last decade.

Rick and Morty also holds an interesting position as one of the only shows based around the philosophy of nihilism. Nihilism (in a painfully reductionist nutshell) is the belief that nothing matters; everyonelives in a world dictated by random chance, where nothing has meaning and where purpose is an artifice created by beings who cannot handle the weight of their existential insignificance, etc.

This is an idea that can be found deeply entrenched in internet culture. For one, it gives way to absurdism, where the infinitely random nature of theuniverse finds shape in the twisted imagination of people who spend all day looking at their computers. Dark humor thrives in this environment as well, because if nothing matters, why should anyone care about the sensibilities of anybody? Memes about existential dread, incurable apathy and even suicide are extremely common.

image via animationstudies

This is all found within the folds of Rick and Morty. One of the primary plot mechanisms of the show is that Rick, a brilliant and alcoholic scientist, has invented a portal gun that allows him to travel between alternate timelines (a.k.a. dimensions or realties). Some timelines may be the same except for minor details; others are filled with insane creatures and governed by absurd laws. In one dimension, all land is made up of large butts. In another, everything is the same except that Rick and Morty die in a freak accident, allowing the Rick and Morty that the viewers have been following to seamlessly take their place. The variations range from the hilariously juvenile to the poignantly dark.

It seems that this knowledge of the randomness of reality has had its effect on Rick; he claims that he doesnt care about anything. His beliefs include that rules are always pointless and the desire to help anyone other than yourself is a projection of your own ego.

Throughout the show, we see Morty, a high school student, begin to develop similar attitudes. In the episode Rixty Minutes, their family uses one of Ricks devices that allow them to see their lives in alternate realties. Mortys sister and parents obsess over it, and lament the ways in which their current reality is worse than the ones they see in the device. Morty refuses to even glance at it, and gives his sister the following advice when she decides to run away from home as a result of what shes seen:

Dont run. Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybodys going to die Come watch TV.

Its sort of the thesis of the show, and a call to ride out the absurd waves of chaos that constitute life by finding things youlike, things that entertain youor people that youlove. It is a sentiment that finds itself right at home with todays youth and with internet culture in general. Thus, the show has become an anthem for disillusioned young people everywhere.

Adult Swim showsDan HarmonJustin RoilandRick and Morty nihilismRick and Morty philosophy

Excerpt from:

Why Millennials Love 'Rick and Morty' - Study Breaks Magazine - Study Breaks